


Lone Wolf

by HeereandThere



Category: The Rock-afire Explosion (Band)
Genre: Concept Unification, Showbiz Pizza
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-09 12:29:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11104584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeereandThere/pseuds/HeereandThere
Summary: "Concept Unification began in 1990 and occurred sporadically at ShowBiz locations for the next two years, with the final ShowBiz being converted in 1992. As Concept Unification began at each location, the right and center stages of the Rock-afire show were shut down, leaving only the Rolfe and Earl characters operational. During this period, the characters performed 'The Rolfe and Earle Show', featuring the voices of ShowBiz employees imitating the characters. The two ran a highlights reel of old Rock-afire shows, and hinted at the coming Chuck E. Cheese themed show. 'The Rolfe and Earle Show' was the final Rock-afire show produced for ShowBiz Pizza Place."





	Lone Wolf

**Author's Note:**

> It's been so long since I've written for the Rock-afire and ShowBiz, oh my goodness. I actually listened to Radio ShowBiz for the first time since December the night before I started writing this, so I'm back into the fandom, if only temporarily. I missed hearing Billy Bob's voice more than I thought I did. XD

As the curtains closed on his stage for the final time, Rolfe DeWolfe put on a falsely cheery smile for the audience. It was unnatural, unlike his signature sarcastic grin; he hated it with every fiber of his being. He hated that Showbiz was replacing them all. That they had forced him to give a final goodbye to his adoring fans through this... this wrong persona. How dare they attempt to change HIM, of all characters?

"Gawd..." Earl could be heard grumbling beneath his line of sight, disgusted at how he had sounded during their final day's performance. Finally, something they could both agree on. "They's makin' me sound as stupid as you."

No response. The only noise heard was the sliding of chairs and whines of children being told it was time to go home.

"Didn't you hear me, geek? I said, they's makin' me sound as stupid as you."

"Oh, what?" Rolfe seemed to have been in a bit of a trance, only now looking down at his puppet companion after Earl had repeated himself, louder this time. He rolled his plastic eyes.

"Forget it. Let's just go."

"You just wait. I'm not going out there until they're gone. I can't stand to face my fans after what they were just forced to witness! It'll be embarrassing!" There he was. Whatever that little flash of blankness, uncharacteristic deep thought was was gone, replaced once more by ShowBiz's favorite narcissistic, Frank Sinatra-loving wolf.

Earl scoffed, almost desperate to poke fun at the other's vanity, though said nothing else. For once, he realized that it wasn't the time. The place, sure; making a few good digs at Rolfe would have been a nice, celebratory way to say goodbye to the pizza place they knew and loved. Ever since he literally gof a mind of his own, time was spent by making cheap shots at the wolf, but normally it was all in good fun. Unless he genuinely deserved it. Then he was serious.

"Don't scoff at me!" Rolfe shook a finger on his free hand in a warning way. "Billy Bob's not here to hold me back, anymore!" The puppet was about to laugh patronizingly. Well, before he noticed Rolfe angry frown change into a... sad one. For someone who was putting his bandmates down (or at least trying to) on a consistent basis, he seemed slightly upset at the mention of the year. Billy Bob was the only one he ever really relented on because, though he would never want to admit it, he was a lot sweeter to him than a lot of people normally were. During their final goodbyes, he was tempted to say something, but refrained from doing so in order to retain his better-than-everyone mindset. "I think the coast is clear," he finally began again, hearing the lights powering down for the night. The construction workers would be coming in soon to finish work on their stage.

"What coast? Why're you actin' so weird?" Like normal, Earl spoke aggressively, pressing Rolfe for answers; the other half of the Rolfe and Earl Show didn't respond as he pushed the curtains back and stepped off-stage. "Don't act like I'm not here! We've been performin' together for ten years, it's too late to ignore me now!" Still, no acknowledgement of the puppet's frustrated words.

At this point, Earl raised his unibrow in curiosity, since at this point the wolf would have either told him to quiet down or have some less-than-clever comment. "Ralph, listen!" It was a test; he knew Rolfe's name, but he genuinely enjoyed watching his face get blood red in embarrassment as the audience heard his "closest friend" mispronounce his name. He hated feeling so forgettable, even if it was just one big joke. But this time, he twitched slightly, like he wanted to retaliate, but refrained from doing so.

"Alright, where is it...? Don't tell me they've already taken it down..." Rolfe mumbled to himself, scanning the walls for some sort of decoration. The movie parody posters had already been removed and would be hastily replaced by ones with images of Chuck E. Cheese and his band very soon, which was a sad sight. They had been part of the ambiance, part of the playful, familiar, warm feeling people got from ShowBiz, even if they had never been there. Now the bare walls and few CEC items made the place feel strange, absent. Missing something.

The Rock-afire Explosion. That's what was missing.

The only reminders that the band had ever performed at ShowBiz would be long gone by daylight; Rolfe's stage would be entirely revamped to fit Chuck E.'s character, and the lone, framed picture on the wall that he had finally found. It was a perfectly imperfect moment captured of the band that seemed to reflect why they're charisma was so spot-on with one another. It was because they were friends. They didn't have to read scripts to know what to say to each other (though an outline of what the show was supposed to be was nice from time to time). They were real.

The image was a weird one for Billy Bob to pick for decoration, but he had his reasons. It was supposed to be a legitimate one for a promo or something, Rolfe remembered (he also remembered trying to get everyone to focus, only to be pelted by boos), but every time they tried, something happened to make it... chaotic or flawed in some way. This one was one of the few pieces of evidence that it had occurred, one of the most imperfect of all. Fatz was in the center of it all, head turned around and shouting at Beach Bear behind him, who was laughing uncontrollably at whatever. It was likely something Mitzi had said or done, since her face was buried in her hands; you could see she was blushing up a storm, but giggling still. Dook was just a spectator, grinning like an idiot at it all; he looked tired, like he just wanted to get it done, but was enjoying the chaos ensuing. Billy Bob just smiled awkwardly at the camera, possibly hoping that somehow he could make this right. Looney Bird was on his side, looking as irritated as ever, while Rolfe and Earl were on the other side of Fatz from them, Earl rolling his eyes and Rolfe's expression showing his disgust at their poor excuse for professionalism. Small, messy writing was at the bottom in Billy Bob's hand, surrounded by everyone's signatures: "THE ROCK-AFIRE EXPLOSION, 1984". Must've been the year it was taken.

6 years since then. Only 6 years is what it took for everything to fall apart. Well, not even 6; Billy Bob had been struggling with ShowBiz's depleting funds, Pizza Time Theatre's hefty competition, and battles with ShowBiz itself for a couple of years now. It wasn't until 1990, however, that it came fully crashing down, when the merger happened. Now everyone was gone except for Rolfe and Earl, but they would vanish in due time.

"You miss 'em, don't you?" Earl's tone was accusatory, but sounded somewhat... sentimental? It was difficult to pinpoint. Rolfe hesitated for a moment.

"I do not!" But after a second, he realized that's exactly what was going on. He had a strange feeling all day, and that was it; he was actually going to miss the people he had given the illusion he hated. "Oh, Earl, they were..." He sounded dejected, and waited again to see if he was choosing his words correctly and cautiously. "... They were my friends! My only friends! No matter how badly I treated them, no matter how much they made fun of me, I know they still had my back. They were nice to me... At least nicer than a lot of people have been. Where am I going to find someone like that again? Tell me, Earl, where?"

Taken aback by Rolfe's sudden outburst, Earl was at a loss for words, especially when he saw he was crying. Though, part of him wondered if he knew it, himself. "Don't get so sentimental on me, Gawd..."

"I'm sorry." Rolfe apologized, wiping away the tears with his free hand. Him? Apologizing? Who was this, and what had he done to Rolfe DeWolfe? "It's stupid. I'm overreacting."

"You may be stupid, but that ain't. I guess."

The puppet noticed Rolfe's ears perk up slightly at the sort-of insult. Whether Earl knew it or not, Rolfe sort of appreciated the gesture; after all, through ten years of having to deal with being the target of Earl's criticism, the wolf had come to learn that this was about as sentimental or even kind as he could be. Earl hadn't had to deal with losing people, before, so it was easily assumed that he didn't quite understand the concept of goodbyes. Or any sort of sentiment, really.

"Thanks, Earl."

And in almost an instant, the smaller of the pair was back to his normal, frustrated self. "I said don't get all mushy, ya geek! I'm still here, ya know, and I don't wanna deal with it more than anyone else does!"

"Oh, hush, Earl." Rolfe was attempting to put back on his overconfident persona and just pretend he hadn't just said the things he did, and it would have worked if his voice wasn't so quiet. He cleared his throat to fix that. "Alright! Let's get out before they kick us out." Before Earl could agree or disagree, Rolfe was already on his way towards the exit; however, he paused for a brief moment, taking in the sight of ShowBiz one last time.

"What is it this time?"

Rolfe shook his head, but he had a smile on his face, and not a sarcastic, narcissistic one, either. It was genuine. "Nothing."


End file.
